During an operation, Samuel Holt, a man who tried to drill into his own head, shouts out, "leave my soul alone". He dies during the operation, and it transpires later that the man was trying to relieve pressure on his brain after believing he had been invaded by an evil virus.
New mortician Edwyn Rord becomes obssessed with the number nine. Living with his domineering mother, he relates his fears to Stella, their lodger, while collecting the rent.
Edwyn to Stella: This morning a nurse gave me nine pounds when it should have been sixteen. Markham told me a body I brought in should be number nine. Later he told me to do nine stitches to every three inches. That caused me to prick my finger with a needle, that's what they wanted. And this house is number nine.
He tells her that evil people are out to get him because he is pure and innocent. They wear dark glasses because evil people cannot stand the sunlight. They made him prick his finger on purpose so that the evil virus would infect him.
He later becomes convinced that it is not his work colleagues who are out to get him but his mother. He uses numerological techniques on Samuel Holt's name, and it equals nine. He uses the same technique on his own name and it also gives the answer nine.
He goes to a church to see a man of the cloth and shares his thoughts. He tells him that he believes he has been infected with a special virus disguised to look like meningitis. The same disease that killed his father. When Edwyn sees that the numbers on the vicar's hymn board are all multiples of nine, he flees from the church screaming.
The feelings that his mother is the root cause of the evil virus become stronger, as does the certainty that it was she who killed his father. He plunges a dagger many times into her stomach and kills her. Stella, who believes that Edwyn may be a meal ticket, helps him dispose of the body in a freezer.
He goes back to work and suffers a total mental breakdown. Two doctors diagnose paranoia. Is this just part of an evil conspiracy against Edwyn?..
Starring:
Peter McEnery
Georgina Hale
Emrys James
Guest Stars:
Anthony Brown
Conrad Phillips
Screenplay by:
Don Shaw
Directed by:
Don Leaver